SPFF News & Resources

The new Dean of the College of Agriculture at Auburn University, Bill Batchelor, joined us this morning. I spoke to him about his new position on a break.

Bill comes from an ag engineering background and sees dealing with the realities of the economic downturn as a priority for the school. He says that they have to learn how to do more with less so they’ll be looking at ways to maximize their resources. He sees peanuts contributing significantly to human nutrition as it grows in importance along with the population.

Listen to my interview with Bill here:

Bill Batchelor Interview (MP3)

12th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference Photo Album

We heard from National Peanut Research Laboratory, representative, Wilson Faircloth during a question and answer session all about research and production. He was part of a large panel for growers to pose questions to.

Wilson says that he’s working on irrigation since we’re at that peak time when peanuts need moisture. He says they’re refining models and encourages to use a guide for proper management of their irrigation system. This is important since peanuts are not as determinate in their water use as other crops. Another project he’s involved in hopes to create a method to determine when to harvest peanuts for maximum yield. Maturity is a major issue and he says they’ll be releasing a computer model later this season using growing degree days and other things to help make this decision.

Listen to my interview with Wilson here:

Wilson Faircloth Interview (MP3)

12th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference Photo Album

According to the peanut farmers I’ve spoken with here at the conference, their local county extension agent is a very important resource for them. The Georgia Peanut Commission made sure that some of them could be here. One of the ones I met was Rusty Harris, Wirth Co., GA. He was participating in the Georgia Peanut Achievement Team meeting yesterday. He says his county is the number one peanut producing county in the state.

He says it’s an honor to be able to attend and appreciates the support of the GPC. This is his first time attending and he believes it’s the premier meeting in the country for peanut producers. Right now he says crop conditions in his area are very dry so irrigation is a top of mind issue. However, he sees it as just another normal year.

Listen to my interview with Rusty here:

Rusty Harris Interview (MP3)

12th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference Photo Album

A serious problem for growers is what to do about feral pigs. One of our presenters is working on a project to make that problem go away.

Steve Ditchkoff, Auburn University, is several years into a project to create the first species specific contraceptive that can be administered orally. He says there are no effective options at this point since they’re so impractical. He says you need something you can just set out for the animals to come to and that only impacts one species. He thinks there is a lot of promise with the project they’re working on. They really need more financial support and hope to have a product within a couple more years.

Listen to my interview with Steve here:

Steve Ditchkoff Interview (MP3)

12th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference Photo Album

We are not going hungry here at the conference thanks to our sponsors. Lunch today was sponsored by BASF and representing them is William Reed.

He would like to remind growers about using Headline fungicide as we hit the midterm for the crop for its plant protection qualities. He says peanuts was the first market for the product. He points to their Headline Advantage program which helps lower the cost.

Listen to my interview with William here:

William Reed Interview (MP3)

12th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference Photo Album

A very interesting session this morning was titled, “An Industry That Feeds The World.” On the stage were Jeff Johnson, Birdsong Peanut Company, Stephanie Grunenfelder, American Peanut Council and Sally Wells, Birdsong Peanut Company. I spoke to Jeff and Stephanie afterward.

Jeff spoke about Plumpy Nut, a peanut butter based product that has been called “miraculous” as a cure for severe malnutrition and featured on major media outlets like 60 Minutes. He says that the product doesn’t have to be mixed with water, a long shelf life, doesn’t have to be refrigerated, is portable and doesn’t have to be administered by a doctor. Top that off with the fact that kids love it and you’ve got a product to be proud of. The product has been used widely in Africa and has application in many other areas of the world too.

Listen to my interview with Jeff here:

Jeff Johnson Interview (MP3)

Stephanie focused her remarks on Africa and government feeding programs. She says the Peanut Butter For The Hungry project ties into her job of working on export marketing. She says that they started with hunger projects outside the U.S. but have also focused now on hunger domestically too.

Listen to my interview with Stephanie here:

Stephanie Grunenfelder Interview (MP3)

12th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference Photo Album